Pakistan is planning to punish parents who fail to have their children vaccinated as part of an increasingly desperate effort to halt the spread of polio.

The country is one of three – along with Afghanistan and Nigeria – that have failed to eradicate the virus.

Now the government is promising to take a more muscular approach to the problem by making immunisation compulsory, fining parents of children who are not protected and prosecuting religious groups who spread misinformation about vaccines.

Draft legislation, unveiled to coincide with a March vaccination drive, promises fines of more than £700 for parents who fail to comply.

Children could also be barred from school if they do not have an immunisation card.

Last year there were 198 cases of polio in Pakistan's tribal areas where limited health care, insecurity and large populations of refugees make it difficult to administer vaccine.

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Immunisation efforts have also been hampered by fears that programmes may be use by foreign intelligence agencies. Last year it emerged that the CIA used a fake vaccination campaign in Abbottabad as spies closed in on Osama bin Laden's hideaway.

As many as 200,000 children have missed their polio vaccinations in the past two years.

Health officials fear Pakistan could become a global incubator of the crippling disease.

Earlier this month the World Health Organisation warned that Pakistan could face international travel sanctions if it was unable to eradicate the disease.